I am a complete novice, who knows little about turquoise or jewelry overall. This necklace caught my eye, and I picked it up (at an auction) but I would love people’s thoughts about it. It tested positive for copper, zinc, and silver. I cannot find any marks, but the silver cones do have symmetrical silver lines on them.
I would love people’s thoughts about the piece. Does the copper indicate genuine turquoise? Does it appear to be a replication or genuine piece? Any thoughts on value?
Welcome to Turquoise People! If you could please add an image of the necklace, thank you.
What parts of it did you test that came up positive for copper and zinc? The cones?
The turquoise appears to be block, or imitation (plastic) turquoise.
I agree with @OrbitOrange that it could be block, or maybe stabilized turquoise, if it was the turquoise that you tested. Yes, turquoise definitely has copper. It has to have copper to be turquoise. I included this screenshot from a geology article about turquoise for your future knowledge in case you buy anymore. Turquoise is interesting!
Thank you both for your thoughts. It was listed as a turquoise and coral necklace, but it did feel “plastic-like” to me when I received it. I am not sure what stabilized turquoise feels like though, so I wanted to get more perspective. I did not test it myself, but the testing was listed when it was for sale. It does not indicate what was tested. I will include a screenshot. I also took a picture of the inside of the bead to see it that helps confirm it is block. Thanks again for all your help. It is a pretty necklace regardless, but it is nice to know more about the piece. If it is plastic block, would that indicate it is an imported replica?
So I’m not very familiar with block turquoise and exactly what it looks like (except what I have seen in pics). There’s also something called reconstituted turquoise, and I wonder if that would still have some of the properties of turquoise, like copper, in it. It’s interesting that they put the testing results, but didn’t say what was tested. I have not seen these style necklaces with the silver cones down in the middle; often there are silver cylinders or other things, but not the cones, those are usually at the top.
I really can’t speak to the value, or whether it’s an Asian import or not. I’m sure there will be others on here that will be able to help you more with that.
I’m quite confident that this is block (plastic) turquoise and not stabilized or reconstituted. Additionally, I think the corn tabs at the bottom are some sort of shell, not coral. It’s most likely that where they tested was on the cones. I agree with @Ziacat that the construction is very unusual with the cones halfway down the sides; they would normally be used as finishing pieces on the ends. It’s possible that this was part of a set of jaclas, and then somebody used the cones and the tubular turquoise to restring it as a necklace. Or it’s possible that it’s an import with unusual construction.
I suspect the analysis was done on the metal - the copper & silver could be the sterling cones (even the combo of silver, copper & zinc can be a sterling alloy if the percentages are right).
I have a block turquoise & shell jacla and thought it was worthless, but I did a quick search and even block turquoise has some monetary value. I’ve seen a block turquoise & shell jaclas necklace listed for $200+ granted it’s only worth what someone will pay. If you like it, enjoy it.
So maybe this is a stupid question, but is that normal for a seller to test such a small amount of silver in a necklace? It almost seems misleading, like they were trying to imply that it was the turquoise that was tested. But then I don’t buy Native American jewelry from places other than in shops that know their stuff well, because I don’t trust myself completely in judging whether something’s legit or not, and that I always prefer to try things on before I buy.
Could the “turquoise” beads be glass? Kind of looks like that to me.
My thought is that the seller doesn’t handle NA /“Southwest style” material and improvised a strategy to describe and sell it. Posting a shot of the metal composition is far outside what is done by people who know this jewelry.
A good question, not stupid!
Thank you, that answers my question!
I think that people who handle a lot of “mystery jewelry” through estate sales, flea markets, ect get these metal testers to see what they’re dealing with. Whereas in the NA jewelry world it is more common to test for silver content with the kits where you scrape off a small amount of metal and put the drops on it. I don’t know that much about the testing machines and how accurate they are. But I think that for someone that uses them, they probably just take for granted that people know what they are and that they were testing metal. I’m pretty sure there’s no similar at home device to test the chemical composition of turquoise or other stones. Their intent with the metal tester probably wasn’t to deceive. However, if they represented the block stones as turquoise that’s more concerning to me, and I can’t say if it was lack of knowledge or intentional misrepresentation.
It’s interesting cause my hubby has a chemistry degree, and he looked at the testing results and said said it looks like it’s done in relative amounts (not percentages), but there is no standard listed. He said if that’s the case they don’t make sense, because it can’t come back that much more much more copper than silver, which is what is on there. But the metal certainly doesn’t look like copper. He thinks it’s the test of a stone (but not this stone since it looks like block?). It doesn’t say how much copper, just how much is relative to the zinc and silver. He says those results don’t look they are a test of the metal.
Sorry if that doesn’t make a lot of sense, I can’t always understand chemistry speak.
Brass is made from a copper & zinc alloy, I don’t remember the percentages- add in the silver to plate the beads 
I see this often with online auction sites like shopgoodwill.com. They have these X-ray machines and attach pictures of their metal testing in their listings but they don’t guarantee anything. Most times the listings are vague because they are donations.
@Christy Thanks for posting, it initiated an interesting, but confusing discussion. Your necklace is definitely in the Santo Domingo (Kewa) style, but the light coral color beads do not appear to be coral, they appear to be shell (Spiney Oyster) which is typically used in these Jacla style necklace. It would be gorgeous worn on black. See the Jacla style turquoise choker attached:
I wanted to thank everyone for all the thoughts, comments, and feedback. It has been an interesting discussion and as a novice, I have learned so much from all your comments. It was also a learning experience around buying online from large auction sites. It was misrepresented as a “Turquoise Native American necklace,” and while I doubt it was intentionally misleading, this has opened my eyes to so many factors to be aware of in the future. Thank you all for sharing your knowledge.
Exactly what I was thinking. This is sounding more and more like a Goodwill listing. Some of their locations are fairly good with their descriptions but others are a complete crapshoot. When they first went online you could get some good bargains but nowadays bidders with big pockets are running the prices up way too high. You could buy something comparable for less elsewhere. It’s definitely a place to tread cautiously unless you know what you are looking at. You can also ask customer service questions. They test metal with those machines. Some of them do use gem testers like Presidium but it has its limitations. I have purchased expensive clear moonstones and Indicolite tourmaline that were both listed as glass.
Buyer beware!
